MicroMillions 13: ElCheikhh tops Main Event for $95K in five-way deal

Ever had a friend who didn't like pocket aces? Someone superstitious who'd had them cracked one too many times and swore off the starting hand more likely to win than any other in the game of hold'em? If you do, and you care about their feelings, don't tell them about ElCheikhh's final table performance in the MicroMillions 13 Main Event. It's not the kind of story they're going to want to hear. ElCheikhh won key pots with rockets twice in an hour and a half, once early on and then again after a five-handed deal had been struck, en route to turning a $22 investment into more than $95,000.

The enormous starting field on the first of two scheduled days of play built a prize pool rivaling that of majors like the Sunday Million. Just 779 players - less than one percent of the original starting field - remained in action at the end of Level 34, which brought Day 1 to a close. Germany's Padde0815 led the way with 5.19 million chips, ahead of Belgium's lancest0rm (4.74 million), Brazil's AndreLucas21 (4.41 million), Russia's ChessWolf (4.11 million), and the Netherlands' LFC-24 (4.04 million).

They all fell by the wayside over the first 10 hours of play on Day 2. LFC-24 came the closest to making the final table, falling to korasidas77's K♣K♥ with A♠Q♣ on the bubble in 10th place. That gave korasidas77 the lead over these other eight players as the chase for the MicroMillions 13 Main Event title began with 1,750,000/3,500,000/350,000 blinds and antes:

Brazil's lone representative at the final table, Banhetaa, started this July on a high note, finishing second in the $22 Saturday Scuffle. The month closed out even stronger despite moving in with A♥J♥, getting called by hahahasucker with A♠K♥, and falling to aces and kings when the board came 7♠A♦2♣5♠K♦ - the $8,700+ for ninth marks the Brazilian's second-best career score here at PokerStars.

The question of who would exit next was up in the air for the next 15 minutes. BIERB4UCH, who started Day 2 in ninth place, was the only player to face elimination; the German player doubled through korasidas77 with Q♣Q♠ against T♣T♦ to climb out of the cellar.

Then BATDAD2005 and petbuus2, separated by just two big blinds' worth of chips, clashed before the flop when petbuus2 opened the action all-in with A♠6♥ and BATDAD2005 called with J♦J♠. An ace on the flop left BATDAD2005 in a bind, and losing a flip on the next hand with A♥K♠ against korasidas77's 6♣6♦ ended BATDAD2005's flight in eighth.

Two hands later rasmuserico was dealt Q♣Q♠ in the cutoff and moved all-in for 61.5 million chips after ElCheikhh min-raised in the hijack seat. ElCheikhh called with A♦A♣ and made top set on the A♠J♣4♣K♦3♦ board to earn the 131.9-million-chip pot and bust rasmuserico in seventh.

The only previous MicroMillions champ at the table was hahahasucker, who won a 6-max Ante Up event during Micromillions 4, avoided elimination a few minutes later. hahahasucker called all-in from the big blind with 5♦5♣ and made fives full of jacks on the flop to top ElCheikhh's A♠7♦ in the small blind.

petbuus2 was in a virtual tie for the shortest stack as the end of the 9:00 p.m. ET hour loomed and, facing the 5-million-chip big blind, opened all-in for 58.7 million with A♠T♦. Russia's kate_kok$ called on the button with 7♣7♦, which held up as the board came J♥9♥6♠2♥8♥ to send petbuus2 to the rail in sixth.

Short-stacked BIERB4UCH moved in on the button with A♦J♣ after returning from the break and got action from kate_kok$, who had J♦J♠ in the small blind. The A♣ on the flop locked up a double to 146.5 million chips for BIERB4UCH, and after hahahasucker doubled with A♣9♦ against ElCheikhh's A♦3♠ on the next hand, the negotiations for a five-way deal began.

It didn't take long to make everyone happy. Chip leader korasidas77, who finished second in the $22 Mini Sunday Million and third in a SCOOP-Low Progressive KO event earlier this year, leveraged an extra $5,000 out of the rest of the table but everyone still walked with a minimum of $70,000 - double the scheduled fifth-place prize and more than 3,000 times this tournament's buy-in.

kate_kok$ kicked the action into gear on the first hand back from the dealmaking session, three-betting all-in for 125.9 million chips on the button with A♥K♣. Under-the-gun raiser korasidas77 called with 9♥9♠, which made a set on the flop of the Q♣9♦5♠3♥2♦ board to eliminate kate_kok$ in fifth.

Two hands later ElCheikhh min-raised with J♠J♥ under the gun and called when BIERB4UCH shoved for 127.5 million chips in the big blind with A♥4♠. The pocket pair stayed ahead as the baord came 5♠6♠5♣9♦K♦ and BIERB4UCH bowed out in fourth.

The quick one-two eliminations after the deal didn't signal a quick end. Instead the last three players - korasidas77 with 410 million chips, ElCheikhh with 296 million, and hahahasucker with 143 million - battled each other for half an hour. As the blinds and antes advanced to 4,000,000/8,000,000/800,000, korasidas77's grip on the lead slowly loosened.

For 10 minutes korasidas77 applied pressure and climbed close to 500 million chips. ElCheikhh fell behind after check-calling three streets' worth of bets from hahahasucker, whose set on the flop with 2♣2♠ earned a 175-million-chip pot. Three hands later korasidas77 opened all-in from the small blind with K♣7♣ and ElCheikhh called with A♦K♥, which held up for a 190-million-chip lifeline. Half of those chips bled away over the next seven minutes but then ElCheikhh's A♦9♠ held up against korasidas77's A♣8♥ to get back to 194 million chips.

korasidas77 was behind for the first time since striking the five-handed deal now and things only went downhill in the next few minutes. An aggressive play from the small blind against hahahasucker's button raise built a huge 239-million-chip pot a few minutes later, but it was all for nothing when korasidas77 mucked to hahahasucker's all-in bet on the river of the 4♥8♠5♠T♦7♥ board. Another 10 big blinds went to ElCheikhh with a fold on the turn of a A♣4♠5♠K♦ board a few hands later, leaving korasidas77 with 20 big blinds' worth of chips.

korasidas77's play to get back in the game couldn't have been timed much worse. Holding J♦T♥, the Greek player re-raised to 42.2 million from the small blind after hahahasucker opened for 16.6 million on the button. Both ElCheikhh and hahahasucker called and the flop came 2♠7♦Q♠. korasidas77 stabbed at the 129.2-million-chip pot for 44.8 million and only ElCheikhh called. korasidas77 led all-in for 109.2 million after making a pair of jacks on the J♣ turn and ElCheikhh snap-called with A♥A♠. korasidas77's 11.4-percent equity became zero on the Q♣ river and the Greek player departed in third.

Winning that pot gave ElCheikhh 558 million chips to hahahasucker's 292 million as the short heads-up match began. ElCheikhh picked up a few big blinds in the five minutes before the 10:55 p.m. ET break and then, after returning, hit the gas hard. Losing all but five of the next 19 pots left hahahasucker at a 6-to-1 deficit, making for an easy call with K♣4♠ in the big blind when ElCheikhh opened all-in on the button. ElCheikhh's A♥Q♣ made two pair on the A♠5♦Q♦K♥7♠ board, though, and hahahasucker's bid for a second career Micromillions title ended in second.

ElCheikhh came through at the right time to earn the MicroMillions 13 Main Event title and the second-largest share of the five-handed deal. It marks a big day for the player from the Netherlands, whose previous best cash here at PokerStars was just over $3,300. Congratulations to ElCheikhh on a huge win, and to the other four players who shared in the deal that closed out another big Micromillions series!